1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a casting apparatus, and more specifically, to a compact casting apparatus capable of producing a high-quality casted product.
2. Description of the Related Art
A tilt-casting method is known as a method for producing a mold such as a tire mold. Conventionally, an apparatus having a hermetically sealable tilting tank has been used in the tilt-casting method. The tank houses inside a mold provided with a plaster mold therein and a hopper for accommodating a molten metal such as an aluminium material (see, for example, Japanese patent application Kokai publication No. 2006-130537). In order to prevent the formation of pores in a casted product, the tilting tank is tilted with the internal pressure being reduced. Accordingly, the mold and the hopper are gradually tilted from the horizontal positions to fill the mold with the molten metal in the hopper. After the molten metal is completely filled into the mold, the internal pressure of the tilting tank is increased to a predetermined pressure. Thus, the molten metal is solidified with its fillingness increased. Subsequently, after the tilting tank is returned to the horizontal position, the mold is taken outside the tilting tank. In this manner, a casted product solidified into a predetermined shape is obtained from the mold.
The tilting tank needs to have an enough space to accommodate the mold and the hopper as described above. Consequently, the conventional casting apparatus is large sized, and it has been difficult to make a compact casting apparatus. Therefore, a compact casting apparatus capable of producing a high-quality casted product has been demanded.